Eight Entrepreneurs in Africa Selected as Regional Finalists for Premier Social Innovation Accelerator, Held Virtually June 14-22
Accessible, affordable healthcare and agricultural technology and clean energy solutions among issues addressed by 2022 ASME ISHOW regional finalists
By: Monica Shovlin
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has announced the regional finalists of the 2022 ASME Innovation Showcase (ISHOW), the prestigious international accelerator of hardware-led social innovation. Eight teams of social innovators from throughout Africa will present their design prototypes and participate in an extensive design and engineering review in a virtual event beginning June 14. Three regional winners will be announced in a virtual awards ceremony on Wednesday, June 22 at 12 p.m. EST/7 p.m. EAT. Register here.
The ISHOW Kenya finalists, whose innovations address issues including access to education, affordable healthcare and agricultural technologies, and clean energy solutions, will vie for a share of $30,000 in seed grants and technical support to help bring their design innovations to market for the benefit of underserved communities. Judges and facilitators include experts in research, mechanical engineering and product design, manufacturing, software development, startup financing and business planning.
The regional finalists are:
- MamaOpe Medicals (Kampala, Uganda) for its “MamaOpe” solution – a non-invasive tool designed to screen for respiratory diseases accurately and automatically, with a special focus on pneumonia, in low resource settings using patient vitals, providing instant feedback to support the care provider in determining a correct diagnosis based on the World Health Organization guidelines for Integrated Management of Childhood Illness. Clinicians can use patient data uploaded to the cloud in remote consultation or telemedicine applications.
- Matica Limited (Kampala, Uganda) for its “ReadySuite” – a safety-tested, patent pending, low-cost and durable laparoscopic system that does not require a constant supply of consumable items or electricity. Clinicians can display images on a typical laptop computer with battery backup, preventing loss of function during power-outages and at a fraction of the cost of current technology, making laparoscopic surgery available in low- and middle-income countries.
- Polystar Nanotech Ltd. (Kigali, Rwanda) for its “Viscane” – a trackable electronic walking cane and inclusive IoT digital assistant for visually impaired people that helps them detect obstacles 60-200cm ahead, get weather information, and provides trackable GPS/GNSS (geofencing) coordinates, helping them to be found when lost or locate the cane if stolen. Day and night recognition with magnetometer capability of the cane helps them walk safely, avoiding hazardous situations, with data privacy pairable to a smart phone via Bluetooth, and featuring light-reflective foldable stainless light-weight aluminum tubes and safety lights.
Prince Automation and Innovation Company (PAIC) Limited (Nairobi, Kenya) for its “M-Shamba Digital” – a smart farming solution that integrates IoT technology in providing accurate and reliable soil/crop data to farmers in real time to help them predict future harvest patterns and take necessary actions to maximize volumes. In addition, innovations around landless and vertical hydroponics farming techniques allow for effortless water conservation by automated irrigation and recycling translating to use of only 5% of water necessary
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